College football analyst Matt Fortuna pointed out on the Chicago Sports Network that an expanded playoff is good for the Irish.

He pointed out that if all the Irish have to do is be in the top 14, then the road to another championship game would be relatively easy. A bigger field gives the Irish more margin of error in case of loses like last year’s stunner against NIU and they won’t have to deal with a potential loss in a conference championship game.

Right now, the Irish don’t get a bye in the current format.

The panel also notes that since Notre Dame has traditional rivalry matchups against Big Ten teams, the Irish can almost be honorary members of the conference in a way.